Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
Graduate School of Business, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea.
Int J Behav Med. 2024 Oct;31(5):679-690. doi: 10.1007/s12529-023-10210-0. Epub 2023 Aug 9.
Drawing on cognitive appraisal theory, this study investigates the effect of daily COVID-19 news on daily anxiety and protective behaviors (e.g., wearing masks and washing hands). This study proposes that such processes, leading to self-protection, are highly likely when individuals have directly experienced the Wuhan epidemic at the beginning of 2020, which is the most serious COVID-19 outbreak in history.
The positive effect of daily COVID-19 news on daily protective behaviors through daily COVID-19 anxiety was examined in this study, which was hypothesized to be accentuated by direct Wuhan epidemic experience. An online survey based on the experience sample method (ESM) was conducted during the COVID-19 epidemic in Hebei Province, China, at the beginning of 2021, in which 82 working adults participated in a daily survey for five consecutive days. Once a day during the five-day period, the participants reported their daily COVID-19 news exposure, daily COVID-19 anxiety, and daily protective behaviors. Wuhan epidemic experience was measured by the place of residence of the participants during the 2020 Wuhan epidemic through a separate general survey conducted before the ESM survey.
Analysis of 392 day-level data confirmed the positive link between daily COVID-19 news and daily protective behaviors, mediated by daily COVID-19 anxiety (b = 0.03, SE = 0.01, p = 0.018). Furthermore, the mediated effect was significant for the participants with direct COVID-19 experience in Wuhan in 2020 (b = 0.05, SE = 0.03, p = 0.041) but not significant for those without direct experience in Wuhan (b = 0.01, SE = 0.01, p = 0.461). Thus, the results confirmed the positive moderating role of Wuhan epidemic experience.
The analysis reveals the psychological mechanism through which COVID-19 information promotes self-protection measures to control the infectious disease and highlights the importance of direct COVID-19 experience in generating such an effect.
本研究以认知评价理论为基础，探讨了每日新冠疫情新闻对日常焦虑和防护行为（如戴口罩、勤洗手）的影响。研究提出，当个体在 2020 年初亲身经历武汉疫情（历史上最严重的新冠疫情爆发）时，这种导致自我保护的过程极有可能发生。
本研究假设，通过每日新冠焦虑感，每日新冠疫情新闻对日常防护行为会产生积极影响，而这种影响会因直接的武汉疫情经历而加剧。2021 年初，在中国河北省新冠疫情期间，采用基于经验采样法（ESM）的在线调查，82 名在职成年人连续 5 天每天参与一次调查。在这 5 天期间，参与者每天报告一次新冠疫情新闻接触、每日新冠焦虑感和日常防护行为。武汉疫情经历通过在 ESM 调查前进行的一项单独的一般调查，以参与者在 2020 年武汉疫情期间的居住地来衡量。
对 392 个日度数据的分析证实，每日新冠疫情新闻与日常防护行为之间存在正相关关系，这种关系由每日新冠焦虑感介导（b=0.03，SE=0.01，p=0.018）。此外，对于 2020 年在武汉有直接新冠疫情经历的参与者，这种中介效应显著（b=0.05，SE=0.03，p=0.041），而对于在武汉没有直接经历的参与者，这种中介效应不显著（b=0.01，SE=0.01，p=0.461）。因此，结果证实了武汉疫情经历的积极调节作用。
分析揭示了新冠疫情信息促进自我保护措施以控制传染病的心理机制，并强调了直接新冠疫情经历在产生这种效应中的重要性。
